A case report of pituitary tumor presenting as Forbes-Albright syndrome: determination of pituitary prolactin content.

Abstract

The patient is 29 years old Japanese female. She got married at 21. Her periods started at 13, but her menstruation had stopped at 17. She had complained of severe headache and right side hemianopsia in 1959 (age 22), and had been diagnosed as pituitary tumor, and the pituitary was removed subcapsularly at the Tokyo University Hospital. The tumor was constructed with polygonal chromophobe cells. After the first operation, her menstruation reappeared several times until her first pregnancy (age 23). Her puerperium had been well, but her lactation had failed to stop, and persisted with amenorrhea for about 5 years up to present time. Physical examination and the laboratory data showed slight obesity with hirustism and oily skin. The urinary excretion of GTH was less than normal. The urinary excretion of 17-KS and 17-OHCS and Estrogens was a little more than the patients with usual chromophobe adenoma. The thyroid and adrenal function remained within normal limits. Her pituitary adenoma grew again in 1965, and right side hemianopsia appeared with severe headache. Reoperation was performed, and the tumor showed the same histological characteristics as in the first operation. Forbes and Albright suggested that the patients with these syndrome might have overproduction of prolactin in the pituitary. The prolactin content of this tumor tissue was measured by the pigeon crop sac test, and showed remarkably higher value than that of the control pituitary tissues which was obtained from another patient with usual chromophobe adenoma.